Since there isn't a thread that groups together non-Metrolink public transport here is a new one, bit late for the M60 widenning (finishes in a couple of weeks), however, BBC NW news this morning reporting that Virgin are set to increase the frequency and the speed of the Manchester to London trains.

Given they take 2hrs at the moment and run every 30mins they sure are going to be very very good competition for the planes.

All good stuff in my opinion, no doubt Virgin will put a press release out later that will be reported in the MEN.

Police, council officers and transport bosses are setting out new ways of tackling crime on public transport in Greater Manchester.
A conference, arranged by the Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive (GMPTE) is being held at the City of Manchester stadium on Monday.

I know its not like the olden days when you could just chip up to Piccadilly on a whim with your YPRC and jump on a London train for 18 quid but i have to go to London once a month for heritage nazi business and it never costs me more than 22 quid. It makes me laugh that it costs more to travel from London to it (i thought there were laws against that sort of thing!).
Its good for my London-hating side but being more reasonable it doesnt do much for encouraging business travellers or the casual visitor to come up from the capital doe s it?
Its hard enough getting Londoners to venture outside the M25 at the best of times but when they find out it costs them more for the same journey it only adds to it.

I love the train to London other than the fact it takes about 4 and a half hours back on a Sunday night, stopping in Milton Keynes for 25 minutes and crawling through the secondary tracks of Brum. Still only £37 return with a railcard I think thats pretty good. If I could be bothered to book in advance it could possibly be even less.

Anyway I have 3 ideas for improving transport within Gtr Manchester:

1. Run the buses like they do in London, sure theyre privitised still, but regulated. The 192 bus wars, and the free for all on the 42 show how stupid the situation is. Even the lonely planet guide points out how bewildering it is for us never mind tourists. Regulation of some sort is needed. It would also stop you having to buy passes for multiple companies or getting a £47 bus card. I think the equivilent card in London costs about half as much and the buses are 100000x better and run all night.

2. Better organisation of Manchester's suburban railways. Finishing the Castlefield Curve and the little bit between Ardwick and Sportcity being relaid so we can have a circle line around the centre with trains running in from the sticks, around the circle and out to somewhere else, like they have in Deutchland. Would work a treat.

3. Electrify the Deansgate to Preston stretch of the West Coast mainline so that Manchester has through trains to Glasgow rather than being on a spur. I dont know if we'd need to add another platform to Piccadilly (perhaps on the site of Mayfair Station) but if it was possible than having 1 service an hour running onto Glasgow rather than terminating would be good for Manchester I think:

London - Stoke - Manchester - Bolton - Preston - Carlisle - Glasgow

Oh and Ive thought of a 4. Sort out Mosley Street, get rid of the buses or regulate them better so they stop blocking the bloody trams. The amount of times Ive been stuck there waiting for 30 minutes because the buses are gridlocked or one is blocking the track. Infact building a couple more Shudehill type interchanges and banning buses from the very centre of Manchester would be perfect. Build one for the South and West of Manchester, Shudehill for the North and a small one near Piccadilly for the 192 , 216 and routes to Hyde would be perfect. Then only run those little free buses around the centre for connections. Ahhh it would be bliss.

Last edited by Irish Blood English Heart; April 24th, 2006 at 01:21 PM.

What amazes me about the M60 widening is the way they stagger the works and manage to keep the motorway pretty much running. It is a amazing bit of planning and they seem to be have been very good at keeping it relatively 'tidy'.
There has been some great civil engineering going and i wish i had photographed more of it but it is by its very nature a very difficult site to photograph.

PLANS for trains every 20 minutes between London and Manchester were announced today by Sir Richard Branson.

The Virgin Trains' chief also said his company intended to bid for the CrossCountry rail route following the Government decision to end Virgin's franchise early.

The 20-minute frequency for London-Manchester will be introduced in 2008 on Virgin's other rail franchise - the West Coast Main Line.

Advertisement your story continues below
Virgin also announced that three services an hour will run between Birmingham and London under plans being finalised with the Government and Network Rail (NR).

The company also said it hoped that it could raise the speed of its West Coast tilting Pendolino trains from 125mph to 135mph.

Other plans for the West Coast line include:

* Hourly Glasgow-London services

* 30-minute peak-time frequency on Liverpool-London, more trains between London and North Wales and hourly services between London to Chester

* First trials of e-ticketing and a new website to make ticket-buying easier

* A trial of personal chauffeur services for passengers

* Mobile telephone links on trains.

In recent years following the demise of Railtrack and the delays to the completion of the West Coast modernisation, Virgin has run both its West Coast and CrossCountry franchises on a year-by-year contract in close contact with the Department for Transport (DfT).

Franchise

Last October, the DfT said it was ending this "letter arrangement" on CrossCountry and would be re-letting a reconstituted CrossCountry franchise in autumn 2007. Virgin had originally been given the franchise until 2012.

Today Sir Richard said that Virgin intended to bid for CrossCountry and told Virgin staff in a website broadcast: "We've started so we'll finish."

Separately, Sir Richard said today: ""There were many cynics who just laughed at our plans when we launched the franchises. They said it could never be done, and at one point even I briefly wondered if they might have been right.

"But we persevered and the Virgin rail operation of today is a shining example of what can be achieved with the right vision."

Pendolinos

Virgin, which operates more than 50 Pendolinos, has seen passengers rise on West Coast from 15.4 million in 1998-99 to 18.7 million in 2005-06, while over the same period CrossCountry passengers have risen from 13.6 million to 20.4 million.

Virgin Trains chief executive Tony Collins said today: "We need to look now at more Pendolino trains and more carriages on the existing trains, otherwise we will inhibit further growth. We also need to improve car parking at stations.

"These are not some vague ideas for the future; they are real issues that we are already progressing. We also have trains that can travel at 140mph, but are restricted to 125mph. We are talking with Network Rail about running at 135mph on some parts of the route. We believe we can do this, not in 20 years' time, or even 10 years' time - but from 2008."

Trains will run every 20 minutes between Manchester and London by 2008, Sir Richard Branson has revealed.
The timetable boost is one of a number of plans for the West Coast Main Line service unveiled by the Virgin Trains boss on Monday.
More frequent services between London and Liverpool, Chester, Glasgow and North Wales are also planned.

Sir Richard said his company would also bid for the Cross Country rail route when its franchise ends in 2007.

In recent years, Virgin has run both its West Coast and Cross Country franchises on a year-by-year contract.

In October last year, the Department for Transport said it would be re-letting a reconstituted Cross Country franchise in autumn 2007.

We are talking with Network Rail about running at 135mph on some parts of the route

Tony Collins, Chief Executive

On Monday, Sir Richard said Virgin intended to bid for Cross Country and told staff in a website broadcast: "We've started so we'll finish."

"There were many cynics who just laughed at our plans when we launched the franchises. They said it could never be done and at one point even I briefly wondered if they might have been right.

"But we persevered and the Virgin rail operation of today is a shining example of what can be achieved with the right vision."

Virgin also unveiled plans to boost the speed of its tilting Pendolino trains from 125mph to 135mph on some sections of the West Coast line.

Passenger rise

It currently operates more than 50 Pendolinos and has seen passengers rise on the West Coast from 15.4m in 1998-99 to 18.7m in 2005-06.

In the same period, Cross Country passengers have risen from 13.6m to 20.4m.

Virgin Trains chief executive Tony Collins said: "We need to look now at more Pendolino trains and more carriages on the existing trains, otherwise we will inhibit further growth. We also need to improve car parking at stations.

"These are not some vague ideas for the future; they are real issues that we are already progressing. We also have trains that can travel at 140mph, but are restricted to 125mph.

"We are talking with Network Rail about running at 135mph on some parts of the route. We believe we can do this, not in 20 years' time, or even 10 years' time - but from 2008."

Re M60
We've got lively and popular Metrolink and football threads and fans of buildings should take an interest in engineering of any description so this is worth its own thread IMO.
Its probably the biggest building project in the whole of the north west aswell so it is quite important isnt it?